Black Thought, Common and Freeway have hooked up with Method Man and Redman for an all-star remix of “4,3,2,1.”
The rap legends each made an appearance during J.Period’s Live Mixtape set at Roots Picnic on Saturday (June 1), during which Black Thought spit new verses over classic beats such as Wu-Tang Clan‘s “Protect Ya Neck” and Method Man’s “Bring the Pain” and Redman’s “Tonight’s Da Night.”
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The five rappers all then combined to perform a new rendition of “4,3,2,1,” which appeared on LL Cool J‘s 1997 album Phenomenon and also originally featured DMX, Canibus and Master P.
Following the remix of the classic posse cut, Black Thought continued to spit over other iconic tracks such as Raekwon‘s “Ice Cream” and GZA‘s “Shadowboxin.'”
The “4,3,2,1” performance begins at the 13:45 mark in the video below.
Questlove, who organizes the annual Philadelphia festival, celebrated the moment all five rappers were on stage and also gave some history about the event to his followers on Instagram.
“30 Years Ago Today w. 6 one way tickets in hand we took a risk and left our beloved City Of Philadelphia for the shaky shores of Londontown — specifically Camden — the East Village Of London,” he wrote.
“2 weeks into our stay we did our first festival (a last min side stage add on to [Glastonbury]) and we promised hook or crook we would bring a festival to our city.”
The Roots drummer added: “In 2008 that dream came true when the first @rootspicnic came to fruition […] This moment was epic: @methodmanofficial @redmangilla @phillyfreeway @common @jperiodbk @stroelliot & their fearless leader @blackthought making it look so easy. Thank You Philadelphia.”
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In the comments section, Freeway showed his gratitude to Quest for involving him in the moment: “Thank you for allowing me to be a part of history!”
This year’s two-day Roots Picnic was headlined by Jill Scott and Nas on the Saturday, while Lil Wayne (accompanied by The Roots), André 3000 and Gunna were billed as headliners for the second and final day.
